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Paintings with an Ancient Egyptian content initially came about because of a tiny photograph of the Great Pyramid, which my father had from WW2 when he was stationed in Cairo. As a child it had fascinated me and eventually I went there in 1979, where I bought the cat which the mannequin is holding.

I made the figures of Anubis and earlier, Taurian Artemis, taking the latter to a nearby lake, wrapping it in reeds and photographing the result. I invented the spaces in which I set earlier work such as “Relics….” but later came to make paintings using real niche settings. I find there is a spiral effect in painting where unconsciously I return to the same thing but from a different angle then I tell myself I must be on the right track!

As a child, I did see a real flea circus when it came to Newcastle Town Moor with the huge annual fair. The lady said, “now children, close your mouths - we don’t want any accidents”.

For a short period of time I incorporated figures into my paintings. They were always inventions as I felt working from life (other than for anatomical information) would dominate the visual atmosphere.

Finally, the animals. Sometimes farm animals, mostly cats, sometimes commissioned but usually my own. I published many of the images over the years as greeting cards under my married name of Linda Cooper. There have been times when I have asked myself, “who am I?”